For decades, the violence, poverty and drugs of Rio de Janeiro have shocked the world. But yet, a short distance from the slums live women in a parallel universe sheltered from this life, who appear nearly frozen in time.

By photographing these women in their intimate interiors, I wanted to capture them in their genuine habitat. Their carefully decorated homes are a symbolic extension of their perfectly presented selves. Seen among objects that reproduce chapters of their lives, it is as if time has stopped within these walls.

Obsessed with an unwavering refusal to age -- the meticulous care of their looks, their posture, their faces -- underscore their battle to fight the advance of time. Are these women -- so pristinely preserved -- victorious over the inevitable march of time?